Protective armor for hulls of vessels.



No. 656,00l.

Patented Aug. I4, 1900. B. F. B. WALSH. y PRUTECTIVE ARMGR FOR HULLS 0F VESSELS.

(No Model.)

(Application led June 27, 1900.)

2 sheets-sheet A YS THE NORHIS PTERS CD. PHOT0 LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D C.

No. 656,00I. Patented Aug. I4, |900.

R. F. B. WALSH. 'A PROTECTIVE ARMOR FUR H ULLS 0F VESSELS.

(Application led June 27, 1900.) (No Modal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NITED STATES KFPATENT Ormea,

ROBERT F. B. WALSH, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

PROTECTIVE ARMOR FOR HULLS OF VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,001, dated August 14, 1900.

Application filed J une 27,-1900. Serial No. 21.740. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT F. B. ,WALSIL a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new land Improved Protective Armor for the Hulls of Vessels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a protective armor for the bottom and side portions of vessels, especially men-of-war, which armor is particularly adapted for use when a vessel is to pass over suspected mines or through a body of water in which torpedoes are supposed to be planted, the said armor being so constructed that it forms a false keel and slants from the keel-line upward at the sides in opposite directions, the upper longitudinal edge of the armor being some distance from the sides of the hull. The object of this construction of protective armor is that when the false keel, which is more or less sharp, strikes an explosive the force of the explosion will not be in a vertical direction, but will be divided and sustained by the inclined or tapering sides of the protective armor, thus preventing the hull from being blown upward out of the water, and at' the same time the fumes consequent on the explosion will be conducted from` the sides of the hull and away from the deck of the vessel.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide means whereby the protective armor may be quickly removed-as, for example, when the vessel ispto be placed in drydockand the armor readily placed in position while the vessel is aiioat.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a man-ofwar, illustrating the protective armor applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view through the hull of a vessel and through the protective armor applied to the hull. Fig.

3 is a vertical section through the bottom of the hull and bottom portion of the protective armor, the section being onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section taken practically on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 ata point near the bow, the section being through bothsides of the vessels hull and through both side portions of the protective armor.

A represents the hull of a vessel, and B the im proved protective armor. The vessels hull A is provided, at intervals with lugs 10, extending from the outer face thereof ata point at or near the load-line, and the upper facesl()a of these lugs have a downward and outward inclination, while the upper side faces 10b of the lugs are curved or inclined more or less inward to meet the hull of the vessel, as shown in Fig. 2, and each lug 10 is provided witha horizontal opening 11,through which a bolt 12 is to pass. At the central portion of 'the bottom of the hull a series of downwardly-extending lugs '13 is exteriorly produced, and these llu gs at their centers have openings 14 therein adapted to receive bolts 15.

In the construction of the protective armor B the body or lower portion 16 tapers more or less sharply in opposite directions from a vertical central line in registry with a vertical central line drawn through the hull, and the outer oppositely-tapering sides 17 of the body meet correspondingly-tapered outer surfaces of wings 18, Which wings constitute upward extensions of the body of the. said protective armor. The inner surface of the protective armor is made to conform in every particular to the exterior of the hull at its bottoni and sides, including the projections from the hull, as shownin Fig. 2, so that when the protective armor is in position the hull will rest therein as in a cradle.

The attachment of the upper portion ofthe protective armorB to the hull is made through the medium of the bolts 12, above referred to and shown particularly in Fig. 4, and these bolts are passed through lugs 19, located at each side of a recess 19, and the recesses 19a are adapted to snugly receive the lugs 10, extending from the sides of the hull, and at each side of the lugs 19 openings are made which extend through the inner face of the protect- IOO ive armor and through its upper edge, one opening being much longer than the opening 21, and these openings '2O and 21, lugs 19,

- and recesses 19a are reproduced wherever an smaller opening 21, into which nut the boltY is screwed. The openings 20 and 21, wherever they occur, are closed by suitable covers 22. (Shown in Figs. 1 and 2.)

The side portions or wings of the protective armor may be introduced into depressions 24, made longitudinally in the outer side faces of the hull, or the wings 18 of the armor may be so shaped as to simply it against the side faces of the hull and gradually taper sternward and in direction of the bow. The lower or body portion of the protective armor is provided with recesses 25, adapted to receive the keel-lugs 13, and at a suitable distance each side of each recess openings 26 and 27 are made, extending through the upper portion of the body of the armor, as

.illustrated in Fig. 3, the opening 26 .being much smaller than kthe opening 27, and these openings 26 and 27 correspond to the openings 21 and 20 at the wing portions of the armor. Manholes 26a and 27 are made in the bottom of the hull A, and these manholes communicate with the openings '26 and 27.

Bolts 15 are introduced into the longer openings 27 and are passed through apertures in Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A protective armor for the hulls of vessels, comprising a false keel, and side sections the inner faces of which are adapted to the exterior cross section of the hull, and means for detachably connecting said armor to the hull.

2. In vessels, a protective armor consisting of a body portion adapted to serve as a false keel, and side sections, which side sections and the sides of the body incline from a central line at the bottom portion of the body outward or in opposite directions, the inner surface of the protective armor being adapted to fit to the exterior bottom and side portions of the hull, and means, substantially as de scribed, for detachably connecting said armor to said hull. v

3. The combination, with the hull of a vessel having lugs projected fromits sides and lugs projected from its under central portion, of a protective armor consisting of a body which constitu tes a false keel for the hull, the body being fitted to the bottom portion of the hull and the projections therefrom, and wings extending upward from the body, having their linner surfaces adapted to fit the outer side faces of the hull and projections therefrom, the bottom portion of the body being more or less sharp and the sides of the body and extensions therefrom having an inclination up= ward in opposite directions, and bolts detachably securing the body of the armor to the keel-lugs of the hull, and the extensions of the body of the armor to the side lugs of the hull, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification yin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT F. B. WALSH.

Witnesses:

THoMAs E FARLEY, JAMES J. WALsH. 

